The End
by katriel1987
Summary: I am fiftyfour years old, a Brigadier General in the US Air Force, and I am dying.
1. Chapter One

**Title: The End**

**Author: Katerina17**

**Pairings: Daniel/Sarah Gardner**

**Spoilers: Small for Season 8**

**Season: Future**

**Content Warnings: Violence, minor language, possible character death**

**Disclaimer: "Stargate SG-1" and its characters are the property of MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, Gekko Film Corp., Showtime/Viacom and USA Networks, Inc. This story is for entertainment purposes and the author (me) is not getting paid for it. No copyright infringement is intended. (Really.)**

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Carter's getting transferred to NASA. Not quite as exciting as Stargate travel, but her dad did say she always wanted to be an astronaut. Guess she's finally getting her wish.

Daniel — well, Daniel is going to Egypt. If Abydos still existed, he might have gone back there, but it doesn't. It seems that he and Sarah have decided they'll be perfectly happy to spend the rest of their lives digging up artifacts together. Maybe they'll even have a few archaeologists of their own. They could even name one Jack. Nah — that would be too weird, an archaeologist named Jack. Besides, I would never want to saddle a kid with the name Jack Jackson.

Teal'c has left our lives, hopefully not forever. The Jaffa, struggling to rebuild their lives and to establish their own civilization now that they're all suddenly free, need his knowledge and leadership. I know there are many good men among the free Jaffa, but I regret that Teal'c will have to fight more battles without the rest of SG-1 at his side. Not all the Jaffa were happy when we defeated the Goa'uld. Some of them are rather pissed, and they aren't going to change their minds easily.

And me? Well — I'm going to die.

"That's a bad plan," I once said, a long time ago, in a different lifetime. Right now, I don't have another choice, so despite being bad, it's the only plan that exists.

Cancer. Terminal. They give me two, maybe three months.

And I'm such a coward, I didn't even tell my team.

I kept putting it off, trying to convince myself I would tell them tomorrow. And then the Goa'uld were defeated and the Stargate program was shut down, and I just — couldn't tell them. They were so overjoyed that Earth was finally safe. I couldn't shatter their newfound hope and optimism.

So I'm dying, gently, while personnel are shipped out and the SGC grows quieter and quieter by the day. I hide the blurred vision and the weakness in my knees well. When Teal'c was still here, I ignored his confused expression when I refused to spar with him one last time.

On the day when Teal'c went through the Stargate, maybe for the last time, I stood facing him and thinking I should tell him, but the words wouldn't come. So in the end I just bowed my head and said it had been an honor, and that he should take care of himself and Ryac and that annoying old fart, Bra'tac.

Maybe I hoped he wouldn't ever hear of my death — or if he did, that it would be years down the road, when time had softened the blow. I just couldn't be the one to tell him when he was leaving to begin a triumphant new life, because I knew he would want to stay with me until the end, and this time I didn't want that.

I guess I feel the same about Carter and Daniel. Maybe Carter will be walking on the moon spouting technobabble through a radio when I die, and maybe Daniel will be wearing robes in the desert sand happily translating meaning-of-life stuff. Most people would want their friends at their side when they die, but I'm comforted by the thought that, in my last moments, my team will be doing what they do best — being themselves. Not grieving over me, not begging me to hang on, but doing the things they were born to do.

The SGC is being shut down for good today. I'm standing in the control room, staring at it reflectively, thinking of all the times I stepped through that gate. The first time, when I lost Daniel and then regained Daniel and Daniel found Sha're and lost her and then regained her and they all lived happily ever after. The second time, when hell followed right on my heels and Daniel lost Sha're forever. All the times after that, when we gradually became a team, then a family.

I am fifty-four years old, a Brigadier General in the United States Air Force. I have been the CO of Stargate Command for almost four years now, and I am dying.

A few members of the SGC found out, of course — our CMO, Dr. Brightman; the newly promoted Captain Graham Simmons; Sgt. Walter Harriman; a blue-eyed cook named Kate Davenport. I swore them all to secrecy, even though I couldn't really explain why. Because I was their commanding officer, and because they respected me, they all agreed.

Turning away from the window, I snap to attention and throw a sloppy salute at the ghost of General Hammond, which must be lurking in one of these corners to see me off. He never could let one of his people depart without being around to say "Godspeed".

Then I do an about-face and walk through the door with my shoulders squared, just like I walked through that gate on every mission for seven years, never knowing whether I'd come back.

This time I know. I'll never be back.

**TBC**


	2. Chapter Two

"Colonel Carter?"

Surprised to hear a familiar voice, Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter turned to see a boyish face with wide brown eyes. She had to struggle to hold back a smile. The Goa'uld might be defeated and the Stargate program might be shut down, but some things never changed. The adoring attitude of Graham Simmons was one of those things.

"Captain Simmons," she said, emphasizing his new rank. "I'm surprised to see you here."

Simmons didn't respond with the smile and blush Sam had expected. In fact, his face was dead serious, and she felt a shiver run down her spine. The Goa'uld were defeated and Earth was safe. What could possibly be wrong now?

Leaning close, as if he was afraid of being overheard, Simmons confided softly, "General O'Neill asked me not to tell you this, Colonel, but I knew you'd never forgive me if I didn't." A deep breath as the young man seemed to gather his courage. "Ma'am, he's dying."

Sam stared, uncomprehending. _"Who_ is dying?"

Graham Simmons swallowed audibly. "General O'Neill. He has terminal cancer. I found out by accident, and he made me swear not to tell." Simmons looked as if he expected to see the good General pop through the door and court-martial him on the spot.

"No." Sam gave a short, disbelieving laugh. "No, that's impossible — " She stopped as a puzzle began to solve itself inside her head. A hundred odd moments — dissonant notes that hadn't been quite loud enough to catch her attention — suddenly began to make sense.

He was _dying._

He was dying, and he hadn't told them. She was going to find out why.

But first, she had another job to do.

* * *

Sand gritted under his fingernails and a harsh sun beat down on his fair-skinned face, and Daniel Jackson could not possibly have been happier.

"Daniel!" He heard his fiancee, Sarah Gardner, calling from somewhere behind him. She sounded worried, so Daniel stood up and brushed the sand off his clothes. He hadn't been gone _that_ long, had he? Upon seeing the look on Sarah's face, Daniel was assailed by the same guilty feeling he always got when he realized his team had just spent hours looking for him while he blissfully translated inscriptions.

Daniel stopped short when he saw a second blond woman standing beside Sarah. His delighted cry of "Sam!" was cut short when he saw his former teammate's face.

Colonel Samantha Carter looked utterly exhausted. "Hi, Daniel," she said in a scratchy voice, rubbing a hand over her face. "I'm afraid I'm not here on a social call."

"I kind of figured that." Daniel tried to ignore the painful knot growing in his stomach.

Sarah shifted uncomfortably, recognizing the silent signals being sent between the two longtime teammates. "I can just step outside if you two need to talk," she offered.

Sam forced a weary smile. "No, it's okay. You can stay." Turning back to Daniel, she took a deep breath, preparing herself. "Daniel, General O'Neill is dying."

Daniel's mouth fell open. Sam knew the feeling. Her reaction to those very words from Graham Simmons had been much the same.

"What are you talking about?" Daniel finally managed to ask. "He, he couldn't be. I mean, we were there just a little while ago when they shut down the program. He looked fine. He would have told us — "

"Did he look fine? Would he have told us?" Sam's voice suddenly turned cool. "Daniel, think about him. Think hard. We were around him every day, so we wouldn't have noticed a gradual decline. But you think about how he looked one year ago, and then try to convince me he hasn't gone downhill."

She saw by the haunted look in Daniel's eyes that he had realized the same thing she had. It wasn't stress that had worn down Jack O'Neill, turning him tired and white-haired and skinny, almost frail. It wasn't the natural process of aging.

Jack _was_ dying.

"What does he have?" Sarah finally asked in a hushed voice, seeing that her fiance was too wrapped up in his own thoughts to speak for himself.

"Cancer. He's dying of cancer. Captain Simmons told me they give him one, maybe two more months."

"Oh God," Daniel groaned, dropping his head into his hands. _"Why,_ Sam? Why wouldn't he have told us? After all we went through together — "

"I don't know, Daniel." Sam's eyes had taken on the predatory glint he'd seen many times before, although rarely directed at one of her teammates. "But I'm damn sure going to find out!"


	3. Chapter Three

"Are you sure they'll let us do this?"

Daniel Jackson trailed along behind Samantha Carter, who was striding purposefully down the corridors of the mostly-deserted SGC.

"We were assured that we could active the 'gate to contact Teal'c any time it was necessary." Sam never slowed down. "I'd say it's necessary."

"Yes, but … " Daniel was practically jogging to keep up. "How did you get off work?"

He could hear the grim smile in Sam's voice even without seeing her face. "I've been piling up vacation time since I still worked for the SGC, Daniel," she said. "My CO said it was about time I took some of it."

The sound of the 'gate dialing was hauntingly familiar, evoking a flood of memories. Daniel and Sam ruthlessly pushed them aside, knowing that they needed to focus on their mission, and that getting caught up in nostalgia would accomplish nothing.

Their mission was to save Jack O'Neill.

Somehow.

They were hoping Teal'c could help.

* * *

Brigadier General Jack O'Neill, retired, leaned forward to peer through his telescope, adjusting the lens until his view was crystal clear. Idly he wondered whether he had ever visited any of the stars shining brilliantly over his head.

A sound behind Jack made him spin automatically. His battle-honed senses were still working overtime, struggling to keep the aging warrior alive, heedless of the fact that he was slowly dying from the inside out.

Standing directly behind Jack was the one person he had never expected to see again.

"Teal'c?" He croaked in disbelief.

The Jaffa, perched precariously on a ladder that appeared far too small for his muscular form, didn't reply. He didn't look the least bit happy. In fact, his face displayed an expression usually reserved for Apophis, Cronos, and Tanith.

Jack opened his mouth. Nothing came out.

"O'Neill," Teal'c said flatly. He had an unrivaled ability to fit a profusion of death threats into a single word.

Clearly, the cat was out of the bag and was now shredding everything in sight.

Oh no. Daniel and Carter were there too, both with arms crossed and storm clouds hovering over their heads.

This was so not good.

"Jack," Daniel said sweetly, "would you like to come down here and explain why you didn't tell us you had cancer?"

Jack thought quickly, and using his renowned wit, provided a brilliant diversionary answer. "Not really."

Teal'c started forward.

O'Neill raised his hands. "Okay, okay! Jeez." He descended the ladder carefully, trying not to let them see how weak he was. He could tell he failed. Looking into the faces of his friends, he saw beyond the tense anger to the sorrow that lingered in three sets of eyes.

"All right," Carter said sternly, "you have five minutes to provide an explanation."

He looked at her. She looked right back.

"I — well, I — didn't want to hurt you guys?" He said hopefully.

Daniel's explosive snort clearly stated, 'wrong answer'. "Are you _kidding?"_ The archaeologist asked in disbelief. "Didn't want to _hurt_ us? How did you think we'd feel when we found out you'd died, and we never had a chance to say goodbye?"

"I, I didn't — " All the rationalizations that had sounded so good inside Jack's mind faltered when faced with the anger and pain of his friends, his family. He stared at their faces knowing that he had no answer for them.

So he decided to try a tactic he had rarely used. He told them the truth.

"Because I was scared."

Daniel's face crinkled up and he swallowed hard. Carter drew in a ragged breath, the moisture in her eyes shining faintly in the starlight. Teal'c bowed his head in silence. Jack's honesty had drained them of righteous anger, leaving only sorrow.

Jack finally broke the awkward silence. "I'm sorry."

Carter's head came up and she wiped at the tears on her face. O'Neill could pinpoint the exact second when the soldier replaced the woman; when her backbone stiffened and her face turned calm.

"We haven't come so we can watch you die," she said quietly. "We've come to save you, sir."

He stared at her, wanting to say there was nothing they could do, hoping against hope that he was wrong.

She smiled, a sad but determined smile. "Teal'c thinks he knows where we can find a sarcophagus."


	4. Chapter Four

P8X-993, more commonly known as Riste, was not a remarkable planet. Its landscape was lush, green, and heavily wooded — with the all-too-familiar pine trees.

"Well, whaddaya know," Jack said, taking a slow glance around. "Trees."

Sam and Daniel hid their smiles, and Teal'c raised an eyebrow. For an instant, the years melted away, and these four people were still SG-1, exploring the galaxy in a quest to defeat the Goa'uld.

It was O'Neill who broke the spell. "Which way, Colonel?" He asked, easily slipping back into his longtime role of team commander.

Carter fidgeted a little. "Well, sir, we aren't … exactly sure."

"You aren't _sure?"_ Exasperation dripped from Jack's voice.

"Teal'c hasn't been here in a long time, but he thinks he'll recognize some landmarks," Daniel put in, then looked pointedly at his Jaffa friend. "Teal'c?"

Teal'c turned in a slow circle, surveying the landscape. The Stargate was surrounded by scattered ruins, the remnants of an ancient Goa'uld city. Every direction looked the same to Daniel, but he knew that a near-photographic memory was one of the perks of being a Jaffa.

"I believe the temple of Anuket to be in this direction, O'Neill," Teal'c said at last.

"Okay, kids, time to head out. Keep a sharp eye out for hostiles. God knows they've got enough places to hide," Jack grumbled, casting a miserable glare at the ruins and the trees.

Things felt almost normal. Almost. Until Jack's knees gave out and he fell, and Teal'c had to help him back up. His face was white and he gasped for air, loathing the helpless pity and concern emanating from his friends.

"Let's go," he said brusquely when he could breathe again. So the journey continued, with the three healthy expedition members trying hard to pretend they weren't walking slowly so Jack could keep up.

Riste was hardly a threatening-looking place, but Teal'c had said that it was one of the few planets still held by fanatical Jaffa unwilling to give up their past way of life. There were few of the Jaffa, he explained, but their zeal made them doubly dangerous. This would not be an easy mission.

Jack, of course, had stubbornly insisted that his friends should not put their own lives in danger to try to save his. They had just as stubbornly replied that this was their idea, and they would see it through to the end, extremist Jaffa be damned.

The attack was sudden, if not completely unexpected. Daniel lurched sideways, his startled cry coinciding with the sound of a staff weapon firing. Dropping to the ground and scuttling behind a stone pillar to join his friends, the archaeologist gripped his smoking arm.

Beads of sweat had popped out on Jack's face and his hands were shaking. He was clearly frustrated by his own weakness, but said nothing of it, asking instead, "You gonna be okay, Daniel?"

Sam pried Daniel's hand away from his arm and gave a sigh of relief when she saw the wound. "It's not serious, sir — just a graze," she reported.

"Good." Jack poked his head out to assess the situation, only to jerk it back just in time as a staff blast whizzed by. "Crap," he muttered.

"O'Neill," Teal'c said. "We are at a great tactical disadvantage due to our position. Were we to reach the tree line, I believe we could easily hold off the enemy warriors."

Daniel, made slightly less optimistic by the pain radiating from his arm, groaned. "We'll never make it," he predicted.

The others had no ready reply, because safety lay beyond a wide open area. If they were to make a dash for the trees, they'd be exposed to enemy fire. It would be suicide.

"Carter," Jack said, "I want you, Daniel and Teal'c to make a run for it. I'll stay behind and cover you."

"Sir!"

"Jack!"

"O'Neill!"

They couldn't have been more perfectly synchronized if they'd practiced.

"Listen!" Jack's voice was like ice. "You all know perfectly well that it's suicide to run out there without cover fire. Even more so because of how much I'd slow you down. After the three of you make it to the trees, those Jaffa will have more than me to worry about, and I can limp across to safety."

Sam, Daniel, and Teal'c exchanged glances. It was a weak plan at best. "Sir, are you sure you'll be able to distract them enough — " Sam began.

"Carter, _go._ That's an order," O'Neill said coldly. Sam considered reminding him that he was a _retired_ Brigadier General, but decided it wasn't worth it.

"Yes, sir," she said wearily. Then to Daniel, "Can you run?"

"It's my arm, Sam, not my legs," Daniel replied in the tone of one who had spent far too much time with Jack O'Neill.

"Carter," Jack said at the last moment. He looked at each of his 'kids' in turn, then smiled. "Good luck."

"Thank you, sir."

They were almost to safety by the time they realized what his plan, his sure-fire distraction, had really been.

He had stepped out from behind the pillar and opened fire, just like that. He had even shouted a few Goa'uld epithets for good measure.

It was, quite literally, suicide.

The last thing Jack O'Neill felt was the searing pain as his chest exploded — then he was floating in a cold, ethereal void, and knew he was dead.


	5. Chapter Five

"Damn it!"

Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter was not a happy camper.

From the safety of the trees, she stared in shock at the smoking and obviously dead body of Jack O'Neill.

"Why did he do that?" Daniel whispered.

Sam groaned. "Oh God. He _wanted_ it this way."

_"What?"_

"Think about it, Daniel. How would Jack rather die? Slowly, in a hospital bed, or in battle, saving his friends' lives?"

"You think that's why he agreed to this in the first place?"

Carter laughed bitterly. "If we find the sarcophagus, we can revive him, and if we don't find it, he would have been dead anyway. It makes sense, in a twisted way."

"ColonelCarter," Teal'c said quietly. "I will retrieve O'Neill."

Sam didn't argue, knowing Teal'c was best equipped for the task. "Daniel and I will cover you," she said briskly. "Be careful, Teal'c. We can't haul _two_ bodies around."

The Jaffa's eyebrow rose marginally, but he didn't say anything.

Moments later he returned with O'Neill flung over his shoulder. When Teal'c lowered the body to the ground, Daniel gulped and looked quickly away, his face turning green.

Jack had been struck by at least two staff blasts, and little remained of his chest. The charred flesh was not a pretty sight — or smell.

"Okay." Sam swallowed and tried not to breathe through her nose. "Teal'c, which way now?"

Teal'c pointed. "If we stay within the tree line, we should be able to successfully evade our attackers."

Moving as quietly as possible and staying out of sight, the small group — Sam, the leader due to O'Neill's death; Daniel, bravely trying to pretend his arm didn't hurt; Teal'c, carrying his downed friend — reached the deserted temple within a half hour.

The structure was large and crumbling, and appeared to have been long since abandoned. "You think there's anybody in there, Teal'c?" Carter whispered.

"I do not know. It is possible, but it is a risk we must take," Teal'c replied.

Sam nodded. "Do you have any idea what part of the temple houses the sarcophagus?"

"Yes."

"Then you take the lead." Sam checked her

90 and smiled inwardly when Daniel did the same. "Let's go."

They moved cautiously down silent, deserted hallways haunted by he ghosts of innocents murdered long ago by Anuket. The only sounds were their soft, echoing footsteps.

By all indications, this temple had been abandoned for decades. Perhaps the Jaffa believed it to be sacred, forbidden ground.

The sarcophagus sat silent and vacant, half-covered by debris. Daniel's stomach clenched into a knot when he saw it. "Please don't let it be broken," he muttered.

Sam cleared away the rubble, then stepped back as Teal'c approached with his burden. Three people held their breath until the top panels of the sarcophagus began to slowly swing closed.

"Now," Sam said, "we wait."


	6. Chapter Six

**Thanks so much to everybody who's reviewed — I love y'all!**

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"ColonelCarter, the sarcophagus is opening," Teal'c said softly.

Sam and Daniel responded immediately, rushing to the sarcophagus and praying silently as they watched the panels slowly creep open.

Jack was lying silently, eyes closed. The gaping holes in his charred shirt revealed … healthy pink flesh.

Sam blew out a long, slow breath and grabbed the side of the sarcophagus as her knees suddenly refused to support her weight. Daniel looked equally light-headed.

"Sam, look at him," he said suddenly. "Look closely."

It only took a glance at Jack's face to realize what Daniel was talking about. "Whoa. How did _that_ happen? He looks years younger. I didn't think the sarcophagus could reverse aging."

"It cannot, if the aging is natural," Teal'c said as Jack's eyelids began to flutter. "Obviously the cancer had caused O'Neill to look older."

"Huh?" Jack mumbled, making an intelligent contribution to the conversation as he finally managed to open hazy brown eyes. "Whas goin on?"

"Hi, Jack. Welcome back to the land of the living." Daniel extended a hand to help his friend out of the sarcophagus.

Finally realizing where he was, Jack gave his friends an accusing glare. "Why'd you guys put me in that thing?"

"You don't remember?"

"No." He stood up with the casual, fluid grace they had seen from the healthy Jack O'Neill of years past. "What happened?"

"You kind of … got killed," Daniel explained.

"Oh." Jack glanced down at himself, noting the size of the holes in his shirt. "Wow. I really did it this time, didn't I?"

"Yes, sir," Carter said, with a dangerous smile. "And if you ever do it again, sir, I will make your life hell."

"What? Why are we … " His voice trailed off as the memories finally came flooding back. "Oh … "

"Yes, Jack," Daniel said tersely. "We're going home now, and when we get there, we're going to have a nice, long talk."

O'Neill's eyes darted to the side as he contemplated the possibility of escape.

"This is not a negotiable matter, O'Neill," Teal'c said coldly.

Jack grimaced. This was _so_ not going to be good.

"Listen, guys, I'm sorry. The next time I get cancer, I'll tell you before I die, okay?" He smiled his most charming smile.

They looked less than impressed.

O'Neill groaned, realizing there was no way he was going to get out of this one. Teal'c handed him his

90 and zat, and the small group headed back toward the Stargate.

This time they stuck to the trees, and by a combination of luck and skill, were able to avoid the enemy Jaffa. Just before they stepped through the gate, Daniel gave Jack a genuine smile that hinted at the possibility of forgiveness. "So, what are you going to do with the rest of your life?"

"I'm not sure yet." Jack smiled back just before stepping through the wormhole toward home. "But I've got a plenty of time to decide."

**FIN**


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